A postdoctoral scholar position is available to work on the global oceanic circulation, with special emphasis on the abyssal component. The approach is to use a range of models and data sets (conceptual models, primitive-equations computations, state estimates) and diagnostics (Eulerian and Lagrangian), to understand the mass, buoyancy, temperature and salinity three-dimensional exchanges in the abyssal overturning circulation.
Required qualifications:
A doctoral degree in physical oceanography, atmospheric sciences or related fields;
Programming experience in at least one general purpose language.
Preferred qualifications:
A strong understanding of oceanography, climate dynamics, or a relevant physical science;
Previous experience with ocean GCMs;
Previous experience with high-performance computing.
Appointment: initially for two years, renewable to a third year.
Salary depends on qualifications: The minimum annual salary is $66,737 for the first year, with minimum 3.7% yearly increases. Health/vision/dental benefits are included. There is also support for attendance to conferences and publication charges.
Applications should include a curriculum vitae, a one-page statement of research interests, a summary of doctoral dissertation and at least two references. Deadline for applications is February 28, 2025. Please send applications to Paola Cessi (pcessi AT ucsd DOT edu).
Wednesday February 26 (starting at 12:00) to Friday February 28 (ending at 13:00)
All career stages are welcome to attend. Remote attendance is possible, but we encourage in-person participation. Lunch and dinner will be provided for all participants. Expenses for hotel and travel are not included. There is no participation fee. Invited speakers will be staying at hotel Mitland. A list of other hotels located near the workshop is attached below.
Please register here if you would like to attend and submit an abstract for a short poster session (optional). You are very welcome to share this advertisement with anyone that may be interested.
Summary of the workshop
Previous modeling studies suggest that North Atlantic subpolar gyre (SPG) convection may exhibit abrupt changes and may in some cases collapse in response to global warming. These changes have been shown to have important climate impacts, yet may occur without a more severe collapse of the AMOC and hence this raises questions about the associated mechanisms. Do such abrupt changes reflect a persistent shift in SPG dynamics (“tipping point”) or do these changes simply reflect extreme anomalies in response to a forcing? And what is the role of the AMOC?
The aim of this workshop is to begin to address these questions by bringing together leading researchers on SPG dynamics. Current research on this topic will be summarized through a series of presentations, and we will work together to define a protocol for modeling, detecting and understanding abrupt changes in the SPG through a series of discussions.
There is a vacancy for a PhD position in climate dynamics at the Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Norway, and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research. The appointed PhD candidate will investigate mechanisms of decadal variability in the North Atlantic Ocean, including atmosphere-ocean interactions, the relative roles of external forcing and internal, and links to high latitudes.
The position is for a fixed-term period of 3 years with the possibility of a 4th year with compulsory other work (e.g., teaching duties at the department).
The Department of Ocean Sciences at the University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science is seeking candidates for an Assistant Professor (tenure track) in sea-going Physical Oceanography who complements the interdisciplinary nature of the ocean sciences program. Candidates with emphasis on either open-ocean or coastal research are encouraged to apply. We recognize that diversity among our faculty leads to the best science, and we strongly encourage applications from women and minorities.
Candidates must possess a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography or related discipline. Faculty will be expected to develop and maintain an internationally recognized research program as well as develop and teach undergraduate and graduate classes. A preference will be given to Assistant Professor, but exceptional candidates may be considered at higher levels.
A research scientist position in physical oceanography is available at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech. The research scientist will work collaboratively on a number of projects focused on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Specifically, the research scientist will work closely with Dr. Susan Lozier, the international lead for the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP; (www.o-snap.org) on research projects related to AMOC variability. Additionally, the research scientist will work closely with postdoctoral researchers in Dr. Lozier’s lab and coordinate communication among the OSNAP international and national partners.
Job Responsibility: The individual will be expected to conduct high-quality research in physical oceanography; produce all OSNAP metrics and data products; publish papers; and present work at national and international conferences. The researcher will also work collaboratively with oceanographers at Georgia Tech and elsewhere on projects related to OSNAP. Opportunities for cruise participation as part OSNAP will be available.
Qualifications: A PhD in physical oceanography or a related field is required, as is at least two years of post-PhD research experience. A background in large-scale oceanography is preferable and experience with observational and model data sets is desirable. Excellent organizational and collaborative skills are required and strong oral and written communication skills are expected.
Start date: On or about January 1, 2025.
Salary: Commensurate with the individual’s experience and education.
To apply: Interested individuals should send a CV, a one-page statement of research interest, and the names and contact information of at least 3 references to Anne-Sophie Fortin at afortin3 at gatech dot edu. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
Georgia Tech, an institution of the University System of Georgia, is an equal education/employment opportunity institution and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any classification protected by federal, state, or local law and requires compliance with the Immigration Control Reform Act of 1986. Consistent with its obligations under federal law, each company that is a federal contractor or subcontractor is committed to taking affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified women, minorities, disabled individuals and veterans. Candidates with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities are encouraged to apply.
Today we steam for Iceland. After four weeks of mooring operations and CTDs even those among us who are always looking for more data are ready to go home. Part of it is mindset, we were prepared to work ourselves to the ground for four weeks to get this done and now it is done. Had we set out for six weeks I’m sure we would have continued tiredly, but motivated for another two weeks.
During these four weeks we recovered 19 moorings and deployed 19 new moorings in those same positions, plus one lander. The mooring teams of NOC, RSMAS and NIOZ worked together on each of these moorings. So while the PIs of the respective institutes had a break while another PI was overseeing his or her moorings, these guys worked continuously. From my workstation, which faced the CTD console with its many screen, I could nicely keep track of the progress on deck. While I was out there doing my own moorings it was good to have some more experienced people around who don’t panic when a mooring comes up in a tangle (oh, how I would have like to start recovering the line that held the instruments/data first…).
the screens of the CTD console. Keeping and eye on all the important stuff, position, ETA, CTD and deckwork.
Inside, we worked together to run the CTD watches. The day watch was allocated to the PI currently doing moorings/instruments. The night or zombie watch was divided between the others. Theoretically this requires “just” shifting your waking/sleep pattern by eight hours or so. In practice, you either completely loose contact with what’s going on during the cruise, because you show up just for dinner as the others are winding down from their day. I tried a different approach, being around more of the day. A short nap after my watch/breakfast, skipping lunch, and another nap between dinner and the start of my watch at midnight. While this allowed me to keep track of the ever changing plans, it did effectively turn me into a zombie for the time being. The cruise leader’s attempt to teach me the rules of cribbage directly went in one ear and out the other, without my mind having any chance to process the information. I wonder what else I might have missed…
But while we still had three watches, each covering eight hours of CTDs, the chemist team had to deal with 24 hour measurements with two people. So maybe it’s not too surprising I haven’t seen them much since they finished their work and were allowed to recover. I’m sure they’ll come out of their cabin once we get closer to Reykjavik.
At least we get to go home in a few days. Most of the Armstrong’s crew are staying on for another cruise. They have been very helpful and accommodating in our busy schedule and we’ve explained them the difference between the colored jerseys in the Tour de France. There was one unfortunately incident, where one crew went on a killing spree (playing the assassin game), but to be honest that whole thing was instigated by the some of the British participants.
All of us came together in our loathing of “weather” on this, somewhat lively, ship. An incoming wave attacked one of the folks attaching microcats to the CTD frame, they nearly lost one of the cats when were holding on (not quite) for dear life. A ladder of an upper bunk bed came off in the middle of the night and woke up the owners of the bed as well as those in neighboring cabins. After all, there is a reason why we spend our summers in the subpolar gyre… we would never have managed doing all of the above in winter. That time of year is much better spend analyzing all the data we collected, maybe next to a cozy fireplace.
Stuart, Roos and James discussing the latest plots of our section.
Well, this cruise has been singular – definitely the best weather for deployments and recoveries that I have experienced while at sea. I’ve been noticing the things folks do in their spare time. Every cruise is different; every cruise has a different feel to it. The different people and personalities and work experiences coalesce into a singular experience.
On this cruise, I have learned that I am not awful at crosswords! Every day, Collin Dodson prints out a stack of the most recent New York Times crosswords, and people work on them through the day.
Every single person in the lab working on the exact same New York Times crossword at the same time.
Dave Wellwood has a disco ball in his salt lab, and music.
Keenan Foley has been trying to keep a stowaway bird alive by providing it a little bowl of water. We think it might be a juvenile Ringed Plover?
A stowaway bird (maybe a juvenile ringed plover?) has come out to visit for each mooring deployment. We think it has been on board since we left port. Keenan’s fresh water supply for the bird is pictured to the right.
The science party made cups to shrink, a tradition. Regular sized cups, when put under great pressure – as happened when being pulled deep underwater, will shrink to cups a quarter or so of their original size. We decorate cup with sharpies and tie them to the CTD rosette cage for a ride to the bottom of the sea.
Decorated cups in a laundry bag, tie-wrapped to a rosette frame, ready to be brought to the bottom of the ocean.
And James Kuo has been working his rope skills. It’s James’ birthday today, and Eric made a special cake, James (an experienced winch operator) got to run the Lebus winch and drop the last anchor on the last deployment.
The OSNAP portion of this cruise is almost wrapped up. We have had four successful mooring deployments thanks to a great crew, and we have just one more sound source mooring to recover. It is time to savor the last few days at sea, the simple skyline. Time to get things documented and submitted, work out agent and shipping logistics, to dream of fresh green vegetables, and of heading home.
Earlier this week many of the researchers and scientists involved in OSNAP presented their work, based on the first two years of continuous monitoring in the North Atlantic, at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, OR. While there are still a lot of implications and details forthcoming, Nature – News reported on these findings in a short summary linked below.
It seems to be a quiet year for OSNAP – just one OSNAP cruise took place last summer and so most of the moorings have stayed in the water for a year and a half. But OSNAP scientists have been working intensively on analyzing the first two years of data and we have started to obtain some very interesting results based on measurements from individual arrays. Some of those results were presented and discussed at a workshop held in Southampton, UK in early November (blog post). Much more is coming and will be presented at the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2018 in Portland, OR. Please stay tuned as we will soon publish a dedicated blog post with a list of all OSNAP-related presentations at OSM 2018.
In addition to analyses by individual groups, all OSNAP scientists have been working closely on the first data products from the full array. We are now in the process analyzing preliminary results and finalizing the flux estimates. Final products are expected to be delivered in spring of 2018. These final products include the overturning volume and associated heat and freshwater transport time series along with the cross-sections of velocity, temperature, and salinity (Figure 1 below shows the mean velocity and property fields at OSNAP). It is always worth mentioning that OSNAP is not an isolated program as our results are based on many existing observational efforts in the region (e.g., Argo, AVISO) and the results will be analyzed in coordination with ongoing programs (e.g., OVIDE, RAPID).
During the first two years of the OSNAP deployment, the subpolar North Atlantic experienced a widespread cooling with two successive intense winters (2014/15 and 2015/16). Strong air-sea heat fluxes during those two winters led to intensified deep convection with an enormously large production of Labrador Sea Water. All the changes make us wonder about any concurrent changes in circulations (overturning and gyre) at the subpolar latitudes. Once we have firmed up the flux estimates at OSNAP, we will soon begin the task of investigating those observed changes in the region and linking them to local and/or remote forcing mechanisms.
Next year sure will be a productive year for OSNAP – be prepared for exciting news!
